CommVault Grabs Its Own Bits

Its QNet software provides unified view of storage - but only if you're using CommVault's other apps

Having trouble keeping track of how much primary and backup storage each of your applications is consuming? Storage software vendor CommVault Systems Inc. says its new QNet software can get you out of that pickle -- assuming, that is, that you're already using its other storage software.

The Oceanport, N.J.-based company says its new storage management and visualization software removes the guesswork from assessing the effect of each individual application on a company's overall storage pool. CommVault's QNet software offers users a consolidated view of how different applications and changing data management policies affect the total storage environment, the company says.

The software, which is part of the QiNetix family CommVault launched last October, allows users to view an application's primary storage usage alongside its near-line, offline, and archival storage use (see CommVault Premiers QiNetix).

"The problem with a lot of existing products, is that they're all about point products... so there's no way to link the information intelligence in a way that the IT administrator can understand the impact on their consumption of resources," says Chris Van Wagoner, CommVault's director of product marketing. "QNet pulls that information together."

For example, the company says, using QNet, administrators can compare email usage in Microsoft Exchange to near-line and offline storage use. With that information, they can then create a data management policy that optimizes Exchange server performance by specifying such parameters as disk usage and individual mailbox size.